Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have come up with a way to check whether physical laws are true
Mathematician Leonhard Euler back in the 18th centuryformulated equations that describe celestial mechanics - the movement of bodies in space. At the beginning of the 20th century, Albert Einstein demonstrated that the Universe is not static: it can be distorted by star clusters and galaxies.
Over the centuries and decades, both of these theorieshave been subjected to numerous tests and have so far stood the test of time. But two discoveries continue to challenge the completeness of the models: the accelerating expansion of the universe and the existence of invisible dark matter, which is thought to make up 85% of all matter in the cosmos.
Until now, researchers have been unable to distinguish between the validity of the equations at the very edge of the universe because they lacked an "ingredient": measurements of time distortion, the scientists explain.
Before that, we only knew how to measure the speed of celestial objects and the sum of time and space distortions. We first developed a method for accessing this extra dimension.
Camille Bonvin, study co-author
If the time distortion is not equal to the sum of time andspace, i.e., the result of general relativity, then Einstein's model does not work. If the time distortion does not correspond to the speed of galaxies, calculated according to the Euler equation, then it is incomplete. The measurement will determine whether there are additional forces or matter in the Universe that are not taken into account in these theories.
The research team successfully tested their model against synthetic catalogs of galaxies. Next test: real data collected with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.
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On the cover: Image by starline on Freepik